Three charged with drug conspiracy after arrests at Metairie mall

A federal grand jury has indicted three men in a drug trafficking conspiracy after they were caught at Lakeside Shopping Center with almost 1,000 tablets of ecstacy.

A confidential informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration set up the deal that ended with the arrest of Minh Tran, 24, of New Orleans, Lionell Adams, 24, of LaPlace and Joseph Sanders, 30, of Jackson, Miss., according to court records.

The informant called Adams on Jan. 31 and arranged to buy the tablets for $5,000, DEA agent Chad Scott said in a

sworn affidavit. They met the next day at the Metairie mall, and soon Sanders and Tran showed up, according to the affidavit. Investigators arrested the three and said they found Adams with one tablet and Tran's car with 939 in the glove compartment.

They also found 24 grams of cocaine in Sanders' vehicle, the affidavit says.